Saturday, May 9, 2026

Mounting Number of Insurance-Accountability Bills Face State Senate Votes in Coming Weeks

Three California Senate bills cosponsored by an Altadena-founded fire survivor network face a Senate Appropriations Committee vote within the next two weeks, sixteen months after the Eaton Fire destroyed thousands of homes in Altadena.

The bills — SB 877, SB 878 and SB 1301 — passed the Senate Insurance Committee on April 22 and are next scheduled for an Appropriations vote that Joy Chen, executive director of the Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said in an interview is expected May 11 or May 14. A fourth bill in the package, SB 1076, failed the same day.

Chen said in the interview that 70% of L.A. fire survivors are facing insurance delays and denials impeding their recovery, citing a figure from the Department of Angels’ “Community Voices: LA Fire Recovery Report,” a survey of fire-impacted residents published in 2025.

“Recovery really comes down to the money,” Chen said.

SB 877, authored by Senator Sasha Renée Pérez (D-Pasadena), would require insurers to disclose all original loss estimates and every subsequent revision,

Saturday, May 9, 2026

For Fire-Impacted Altadena, a Saturday Walk Through the Neighborhood with Two Regenerative Designers

Leigh Adams and Shawn Maestretti of Studio Petrichor and Poly/Ana lead a free, on-the-ground morning conversation about how to rebuild a yard with ecological intelligence — and how to relate to the land instead of fear it

In the months since the Eaton Fire, Altadena residents have been making decisions about their landscapes under enormous pressure: what to plant, what to clear, where to spend money, how to think about a future that includes more fire. On Saturday, May 9 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., Poly/Ana and Studio Petrichor will lead a free community walk-and-talk in Altadena designed to help fire-impacted residents do that thinking with experienced company at their side.

The morning is hosted by Leigh Adams of the Poly/Ana nonprofit and Shawn Maestretti, principal of the Altadena-based regenerative landscape architecture firm Studio Petrichor. The two have spent years arguing for what they call whole-system design — an approach that frames a property not as a structure to defend against the wild but as an ecosystem to relate to.

Friday, May 8, 2026

Local Singer Returns to Stage After Wildfire Ash Temporarily Silenced Her Voice

By ANDRÈ COLEMAN, Managing Editor

A Pasadena singer whose voice was temporarily silenced after exposure to toxic wildfire ash is returning to the stage this month with a comeback concert organizers describe as a celebration of healing, resilience and renewal.

“From Silence to Song” is scheduled for May 23 and will feature Pasadena vocalist Monet Bagneris in a performance organizers describe as both a concert and a personal comeback story.

For nearly two months early last year, Bagneris lost her ability to speak after inhaling toxic wildfire ash that spread across the region following the fire. The singer said her throat went into shock from the exposure, leaving her unable to communicate except through a dry-erase board.

“I’m so grateful to God that I have my voice again,” Bagneris said in a December interview after releasing her holiday single “Can’t Wait for Santa.”

The event is being promoted alongside sponsorship opportunities for local businesses and supporters, including advertising space in a souvenir program book and event sponsorship packages.

Friday, May 8, 2026

Alleged Eaton Fire Looters Due Back in Pasadena Court 16 Months After Wildfire

Pair accused of burglarizing evacuated Altadena homes faces hearing Monday on felony charges

Sixteen months after the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, two people accused of burglarizing evacuated homes while the wildfire raged are scheduled to appear in a Pasadena courtroom Monday morning.

Lucia Jilrara Perez, 37, and Rudy Salazar, 20, each face two counts of first-degree residential burglary in case 25PDCF00020, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. A hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. in Department B at Pasadena Courthouse, 300 E. Walnut St. Judge Rita L. Badhan has presided over prior hearings in the case. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. The charges are allegations, and both are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

Prosecutors allege the pair entered two homes in Altadena on January 8, 2025, at approximately 2:30 p.m. — while mandatory evacuation orders were in effect — and took property. They were apprehended while allegedly attempting to enter a third residence,

Friday, May 8, 2026

PCC, PUSD Struck by Nationwide Schools Cyberattack

An investigation was underway Friday after a cyberattack disrupted access to a key education computer platform used by Pasadena Unified, Pasadena City College, the California State University campuses, UCLA, and thousands of schools nationwide.

The attack, allegedly carried out by a hacking group called Shiny Hunters, targeted Instructure, developer of the Canvas education platform used at universities and school systems nationwide. The attack apparently began more than a week ago, but it led to outages of the Canvas system on Thursday.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Pasadena Now that Pasadena Unified was affected by the Canvas outage and that teachers could not access student records.

Pasadena City College issued three messages to students, faculty, and staff on Thursday over its RAVE Alert system — reserved exclusively for emergencies — warning them not to click on any links, download files, or respond to messages related to a pop-up message that appeared on the PCC Canvas. The pop-up was reportedly a message from Shiny Hunters.

Friday, May 8, 2026

Basketball Tournament Born From Altadena Tragedy Returns to Honor New Scholars

Annual event created after 2011 shooting has awarded $177,000 in scholarships to 93 students, according to organizers

Fifteen years after a teenager was shot and killed outside a party in Altadena, the basketball tournament created in his name has helped send 93 young people to college.

The 12th Annual Brandon Jackson Memorial Scholarship and Basketball Classic returns Saturday, May 16, at Pasadena City College’s Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium — the first year the event has been held at PCC and the first under its new nonprofit home, Empower U. The all-day tournament has awarded more than $177,000 in scholarships to underserved students since 2011, according to the organization.

Brandon Jackson was an 18-year-old John Muir High School student, football player, and recipient of the school’s Mustangs Achievement Award when he was shot and killed on February 12, 2011, while leaving a party in Altadena. David Williams, Jackson’s AAU basketball coach, created the scholarship and basketball classic later that year.

“It started out as myself being a grieving coach and mentor for Brandon Jackson,”

Friday, May 8, 2026

PUSD Board Approves Layoffs as Trustees Concede Cycle Will Likely Repeat

Pasadena Unified School District board members approved another round of employee reductions Thursday night, even as trustees and district leaders acknowledged a recurring cycle of layoffs, rehiring and budget instability tied to declining enrollment and uncertain school funding.

At a special meeting in the Elbie J. Hickambottom Board Room, the Board of Education adopted Resolution 2878, implementing the elimination, layoff or reduction in force of particular kinds of certificated services for the 2026–2027 school year, and Resolution 2879, authorizing the elimination or layoff of classified positions due to lack of work or lack of funds.

Trustees also ratified a Settlement Agreement and Side Letter between the District and United Teachers of Pasadena (UTP) addressing the certificated Reduction in Force.

All three items passed.

Trustee Kimberly Kenne said the certificated resolution covers 62 layoffs in addition to 49 temporary employees terminated earlier, for a total of 111 affected certificated staff. She said the District reduced 161 full-time equivalent positions in February,

Friday, May 8, 2026

Eaton Fire Renter Cash Aid Becomes Test Case for Disaster Recovery Policy

New Altadena cash program joins county rent relief, state mortgage forbearance and nonprofit aid efforts

A new two-year cash assistance program for Eaton Fire renters is adding another layer to a widening recovery system that stretches from Sacramento to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to local nonprofits, turning Altadena into a test case for how California may structure renter-focused disaster relief after major fires.

Applications open Monday, May 11, for Direct Cash for Altadena Fire Recovery, a program created by the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles in partnership with the Altadena Tenants Union, Altadena Community Land Trust and other community groups.

Eligible applicants will be entered into a selection pool, from which 30 households will be randomly chosen to receive $36,000 over 24 months through monthly unrestricted cash payments. The money may be used for rent, relocation costs, debt payments or other household needs, according to program officials.

The initiative is modest in scale but potentially significant in design: It is aimed specifically at renters still dealing with the financial aftershocks of the Eaton Fire,

Friday, May 8, 2026

Thirty Years of Interviews Become the First Biography of Chicano Art Icon Rupert García

The UC Santa Barbara historian who collected the oral history brings his book to Vroman’s Friday night

It took Mario T. García 30 years and 50 hours of recorded conversation to get the full story of Rupert García, one of the most consequential Chicano artists in American history. No one had told it before.

The result, “Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio,” published in January by Rutgers University Press, is the first comprehensive text on the life and art of the 84-year-old painter, printmaker, and activist whose work hangs in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Art. García discusses the book and signs copies at 7 p.m. Friday at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd.

The book uses a form called the testimonio — a Latin American literary genre in which a scholar interviews an activist and structures the narrative. “A testimonio is a Latin American genre involving an academic or a journalist and a political activist,”

Friday, May 8, 2026

Guest Opinion | Matty Struski : Closing Blair Middle and High School Would Be a Blow to Students With Physical Disabilities

My daughter, Rain, is a sixth grader at Blair Middle School. Aside from being a thriving student and enthusiastic supporter of her school community, Rain also has a disability and uses a wheelchair as her primary source of mobility. Closing Blair and forcing her onto an alternative PUSD campus would be a significant step backward in accessibility and inclusion in her educational experience and in her life in general.

As parents of a child with a disability, my wife and I are forced to view schools through a different lens when choosing the right place for our daughter. Like other parents, we look for the school that will give our daughter the best chance to thrive academically and nurture a love for learning. But, equally important to us is the ability for our daughter to physically access the campus in an inclusive way.

When it came time to choose a middle school for Rain, my wife and I did a tremendous amount of research,